New Men’s Basketball Coach Named

Siloam Springs, Ark. (March 22, 2007) - John Brown University Athletic Director, Robyn Gordon, has announced that Clark Sheehy, former JBU basketball player and son of retiring head coach John Sheehy, has been hired as the new head coach of the men’s basketball program at JBU.

“Clark is an exceptional young coach, with a lot of passion and enthusiasm for the game,” stated Gordon. “He is also very proactive with his player's academic and spiritual development, and we believe that his personality will allow him to quickly connect with the entire campus and the Siloam community.”
Sheehy has spent the last two years as head coach at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif. FPU, which is a member of the NAIA’s Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC), competes against other notable GSAC teams including Azusa Pacific, whom John Brown defeated in 2005 for the NAIA Division I National Championship, and Concordia (Calif.), a team JBU conference opponent, Oklahoma City, defeated on Tuesday night in Kansas City for this year’s NAIA National Championship.

In his two years at FPU, Sheehy has accumulated a 28-29 record. During his first year, Sheehy took a program that had only one winning season in the previous eight years to a 15-13 record. This season, the team’s record dipped to 13-16, but FPU advanced to postseason play for the first time since 2004. FPU lost in the first round to Concordia, a team they had beaten earlier in the regular season.

Before his stint at FPU, Sheehy was an assistant coach at Texas State University in San Marcos, Tex. Prior to that, Sheehy spent one season at NCAA Division II member Texas A&M University, Commerce, while he completed a master of education (physical education) degree. He also spent one season as an assistant coach for the women’s team at John Brown.

Sheehy, who is a 1999 graduate of JBU, was a three-year starter that averaged 12 points per game over his four-year career (1995-98). He is currently ranked 18th on the JBU career scoring list with 1089 points, and fourth on the three pointers made list with 225. He also earned All-Sooner Conference honors his junior and senior seasons.

The 31-year old Sheehy and his wife Elisa are thrilled about the opportunity to come back to the campus of John Brown University.

“It feels great coming back to JBU. This is a place that has meant so much to me and to my family,” stated Sheehy. “Having been away for the past eight years I may need a campus map to navigate with all the changes that have taken place, but my wife and I are really excited.”

Sheehy continued, “I hope to carry on the tradition that has been built here with the basketball program. I think the trademark has been teams that compete hard and play their tails off. The Sooner Athletic Conference is such a great small college basketball league, and it is going to be a challenge to compete. But we will embrace the challenge, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Sheehy officially begins on July 1, but will travel to Siloam Springs a few times over the next six weeks to meet with the team and bring in recruits for visits.

He will also direct the Golden Eagle boy’s basketball camp the week of June 18.

For more information contact the Sports Information office at shinsey@jbu.edu or phone (479) 524-7304.